DISEASES OF JOINTS. 331 



the day by continuous cold water irrigation by means of a hose or 

 soaking tub and at night by applying a moderately tight roller band- 

 age. Later absorption may be promoted by a Priessnitz bandage,"* 

 pressure by roller bandages, sweating, the use of liniments, or if neces- 

 sary by a sharp blister of biniodide of mercury. This treatment 

 should subdue the inflammation, abort the soreness, absorb the excess 

 of secretion, strengthen the walls of the sac, and finally cause the 

 windgalls to disappear, provided the animal is not too quickly re- 

 turned to labor and exposed to the same factors that occasioned them 

 at first. 



But if the inflammation has become chronic, and the enlargement 

 has been of considerable duration, the negative course will be the 

 wiser one. If any benefit results from treatment it will be of only a 

 transient kind, the dilatation returning when the patient is again sub- 

 jected to labor, and it will be a fortunate circumstance if inflamma- 

 tion has not supervened. 



But notwithstanding the generally benignant nature of the swelling 

 there are exceptional cases, usually when it is probably undergoing 

 certain pathological changes, which may result in lameness and dis- 

 able the animal, in which case surgical treatment will be indicated, 

 especially if repeated blisters have failed to improve the symptoms. 

 Line firing is then a preeminent suggestion, and many a useful life 

 has received a new lease as the result of this operation timely per- 

 formed. Another method of firing, which consists in emptying the 

 sac by means of punctures through and through, made with a red-hot 

 needle or wire, and the subsequent injection into the cavity of cer- 

 tain irritating and alterative compounds, designed to effect its closure 

 by exciting adhesive inflammation, such as tincture of iodine, may be 

 commended. But they are all too active and energetic in their effects 

 and require too much special attention and intelligent management to 

 be trusted to any hands other than those of an expert veterinarian. 



BLOOD SPAVIN, BOO SPAVIN, AND THOBOUGHPIN. 



The blood spavin is situated in front and to the inside of the hock 

 and is merely a varicose or dilated condition of the saphena vein. It 

 occurs directly over the point where the bog spavin is found, and has 

 thus been frequently confused with the latter. 



The complicated arrangement of the hock joint, and the powerful 

 tendons which pass on the posterior part, are lubricated with the 

 product of secretion from one tendinous synovial and several articular 



a This bandage consists of a cloth drenched in warm water or a dripping band- 

 age laid around the diseased part, then covered by several layers of woolen 

 blanket or cloth, which is in turn covered by parchment paper, rubber cloth, or 

 other impervious material. Heat, moisture, and pressure are obtained by such 

 a bandage if water is poured upon it several times daily. 



